Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
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Posts by this author
September 23, 2009
A pair of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), photographed at Grizzly Lookout in Yellowstone National Park.
September 22, 2009
One evening, about a year ago, my wife returned home from some church function or other and said "I just saw a juvenile baboon beg to handle a mother's baby."
I had no idea what she was talking about. Where had she seen a baboon? Had she gone to the zoo instead?
In truth Tracey did not see an…
September 22, 2009
A raven (Corvus corax), photographed at Yellowstone National Park. While there I observed that some of the birds would pick the splattered insects off cars for an easy meal.
September 21, 2009
The other day I had a little chat with Scicurious.
We talked about the usual things; the latest academic frustration, weekend plans, &c., but sooner or later we got onto the topic of science popularization. We both work hard to not only make science accessible, but to make it interesting, yet…
September 21, 2009
A male pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), photographed at Antelope Island in Utah.
September 20, 2009
A view of Hayden Valley in Yellowstone National Park. Those are bison (Bison bison) in the foreground.
September 19, 2009
North American river otters (Lontra canadensis), photographed in the Lamar Valley at Yellowstone National Park.
September 18, 2009
Contrary to their herbivorous habits in the wild, the elephants that appear in the long-running animated show The Simpsons are often carnivorous. In almost every episode featuring an elephant the pachyderm puts another animal in its mouth (i.e. Bart's pet elephant "Stampy") if it does not actually…
September 18, 2009
One of the "staircases" of rock in the thermal basin of Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone.
September 17, 2009
Old Faithful, photographed at Yellowstone National Park.
September 16, 2009
Yesterday I questioned the path by which Simon Conway Morris and James Valentine, two evolutionary biologists, came to appear in the new creationist film Darwin's Dilemma. Created by Illustra Media, a film company that has worked closely with the Discovery Institute, the film claims that the "…
September 16, 2009
Considering the fossils of the Cambrian, the oldest fossil-bearing rocks known during his time, Charles Darwin wrote the following in the 6th edition of On the Origin of Species;
... it cannot be doubted that all the Cambrian and Silurian trilobites are descended from some on crustacean, which must…
September 16, 2009
Sunset at Oxbow Turnout in Grand Teton National Park.
September 15, 2009
Update: I have released important new information about this story here.
Creationists have made a habit out of tricking scientists and historians into appearing in pro-creationism films. Such "culture warriors" view their dishonest tactics as fully acceptable. They think their deceit is working for…
September 15, 2009
In 1916 the paleontologist H.F. Osborn published one of the strangest books on evolution I have ever read. Titled The Origin and Evolution of Life: On the theory of action, reaction and interaction of energy, the volume was an attempt to "take some of the initial steps toward an energy conception…
September 15, 2009
An osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flying above the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.
September 14, 2009
An American pika (Ochotona princeps), photographed in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
September 13, 2009
A warning to visitors about bison, or a request to the bison? Photographed at Antelope Island, Utah.
September 12, 2009
A bee collecting pollen from a sunflower. Photographed at Antelope Island, Utah.
September 11, 2009
Carl Buell's restoration of Aetiocetus weltoni. From Demere et al., 2008.
By now many of you have no doubt seen the abysmally bad story on evolution and creationism in yesterday's Telegraph. After referring to the reactions of fundamentalist Christians to the forthcoming Charles Darwin biopic…
September 11, 2009
A close up of the thin layers of rock around one of the pools at the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.
September 10, 2009
Why did this male pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) cross the road?
To chase away some other males on the other side! (Though he had no beef with the bison.) Photographed at Antelope Island.
September 9, 2009
A Smilodon fends off vultures at what would later be called the Rancho La Brea tar pits, situated in Los Angeles, California. Painting by Charles R. Knight.
The feeding habits of saber-toothed cats have long perplexed scientists. How in the world did these cats kill prey with their almost…
September 9, 2009
An American avocet (Recurvirostra americana), photographed at Antelope Island, Utah.
September 8, 2009
The skull of a brown bear (Ursus arctos), photographed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
The next time someone watches my apartment I will have to post a warning about the skulls. A few are in plain sight, like a badger skull on the bookshelf and a comparative set of small…
September 8, 2009
A young bison (Bison bison) walking along the road during a bison jam in Yellowstone.
September 7, 2009
Science blogging is hard work. Everyone has their own style and motivations, but in general it can be said that it takes a lot of effort to write about science with the frequency and skill that many bloggers do. With this in mind, and given the positive response these two posts have received, I…
September 7, 2009
A scorpion illuminated under a black light. Photographed at the Utah Museum of Natural History.
September 6, 2009
A male elk (Cervus canadensis) grazing among a group of fallen trees. Photographed near the West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone.
September 5, 2009
A family of North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) playing together, photographed at a pond in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley.